The Ultimate Sales Machine - Chet Holmes [79]
Another client sold products that help farmland yield more crops per square foot or yard, reduce erosion, and produce stronger, more nourished crops. I suggested that the company do a doctor theme and call it “The Dirt Doctors” as, obviously, its product improves your dirt. The staff did not want to do it! Not one of them, not even the CEO, wanted to dress up like a doctor at a trade show full of farmers. But they finally did it and had stunning results. When I was encouraging yet another client to follow this advice and he, too, was timid, I had the dirt doctor client write to the other client about the results. Here’s the dirt doctor story from the lips of the CEO:
When Chet came up with this idea for us he said: “Trust me. Just do it.” We did it. This particular show is one we had done every year for seven years. With this approach we got more leads than we had gotten in all the previous seven years combined! We did not look like idiots as I thought we would. We were the life of the party. We decided to completely go for it, and it was a big hit.
As Chet mentioned, we sell soil additives. My VP and I dressed in white lab coats and wore stethoscopes around our necks. My name tag said, “Dr. Dirt,” and his read, “Dr. Soil.” We had a massage therapist in our booth giving complimentary neck and back massages and we had our lovely blond “nurse” walking around the show handing out “prescriptions for relaxation.” People were told to bring the prescription to our booth for a free relaxing massage and a chance to win a relaxing trip to Maui. All they had to do was get the prescription signed by one of the “doctors.”
They came in droves and lined up for their massages. Because they had to get their “prescription” signed by one of us to be entered into the Maui giveaway, we guaranteed ourselves an opportunity to talk to every one. While they waited for their massage, we had time for substantive conversation. What happened was every one was in a great mood when they came to our booth. We were the life of the party.
They were already on our side because they were having so much fun. We focused on the fun, and the prospects genuinely wanted to know what our company and product were all about. We also discovered that, after a massage, people were really friendly (and appreciative) and they would linger to ask questions about the product. Also, our massage therapist was familiar with the product, so she could talk it up while she was working on them. I could go on forever and I would be happy to answer any specific questions you might have, but I learned that when Chet says, “Trust me,” that’s exactly what you should do.
Tim Alderson
President
AgriGator, Inc.
www.agrigator.com
Of course, you can go to a trade show in your normal clothes and calmly talk about your product or ser vice to whoever happens to come by your booth. But if you really want to turn your trade show booth into a lead-generating machine, you need to completely go for it. Tim followed the rules for a successful trade show as laid out in the paragraphs above. Take the extra steps to get noticed, drive traffic, and capture data about your prospect. Hire extra people like a massage therapist or a palm reader or models to join your staff and make your booth a magnet for every one at the trade show. Tim’s company got more leads than it had in seven previous years combined. It takes careful planning and some creativity,